Hidden sugar

How much sugar is in the foods you regularly consume? Some of these might surprise you.

Most of the sugar we eat doesn't come from us sprinkling it on food, it's added before we buy it. We look at five common food items and weigh up the sugar content.

1 serving of Special K (1 cup/40g)

The serving size on the pack says 30g but studies show we always pour a larger serve. That said, compared to many others, this cereal is pretty good. A one-cup serve contains 1½ teaspoons of sugar – just don't sprinkle more on top. Sweeten it with fresh fruit and add some chopped nuts to boost the nutritional content.

1 tub (200g) of yoghurt

Typically, the lower a yoghurt is in fat, the higher it is in sugar or artificial sweeteners.

One small tub may contain as many as six teaspoons of sugar (some in the form of natural sugars from fruit and milk, some added sugar).

For a healthier snack, choose plain natural yoghurt with active live cultures and add your own fruit.

1 mixed berry bran muffin

Don't be fooled into thinking a muffin is a healthy snack just because it says it's low in fat or high in fibre. In terms of sugar, most commercial muffins contain about eight teaspoons, making them no better then a piece of cake.

1 medium (450ml) mixed fruit juice

A large freshly squeezed medium fruit juice from the local juice bar typically contains 11 teaspoons of sugar, and while it may be natural and not refined cane sugar, ultimately, it's still sugar with none of the fibre you'd get from eating the whole fruit. Stick to a small size and combine the fruit with vegetables.

600ml bottle of Coke

This one's a no-brainer. With 15 teaspoons of sugar, one bottle of Coke will put you over your limit for the whole day and, worse still, any sugar that isn't used by the body will be stored as fat. Plus, as your dentist will tell you, this excess sugar will also increase your risk of dental plaque. Avoid at all costs!

We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites. This is also known as Online Behavioural Advertising. You can find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out here